McDonald’s Video Shows What Really Goes Into Making Chicken McNuggets

2-5-2014 8-56-24 AM

 

Is there anyone who hasn’t seen this image of the “pink goop” (AKA “pink slime”) from which McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are supposedly made? Not likely.

 

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These people asked:

 

 

McDonald’s Canada wanted to set the record straight and prove to us once and for all that McNuggets aren’t made from this disturbing “pink goop” mixture of meat, ammonium hydroxide to disinfect it (!), and other delightful ingredients.

 

So two employees took us through the entire process and the video — available on the McDonald’s Canada YouTube channel?– aired as a commercial during Sunday night’s Super Bowl.

 

Step 1: They start with whole chickens and separate out the breasts and put aside parts that they don’t use for McNuggets (we don’t know what they use those parts for).

 

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Step 2: They then put the breast meat that’s been separated into a bin, and from there, into the mincer, which….minces it.

 

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Step 3: The mincer produces…beige goop. But hey, at least it’s goop that’s nothing but chicken and seasoning, and the seasoning apparently is sneaked into the mincer somehow.

 

The ingredients shown in the image below were pulled from a PDF on the?McDonald’s website:

 

2-5-2014 7-15-54 AM

 

 

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The end product that comes out of the mincer looks like meat that’s not much different than that which would come out of my KitchenAid mixer if I were making chicken and cream cheese stuffed jalape?os.

 

My chicken and cream cheese mixture wouldn’t contain all of those scary sounding ingredients, though.

 

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Step 4: The meat (plus “seasonings”) is then made into four different shapes — the “bow tie,” the “bell,” the “ball,” and the “boot.” Who knew, right?

 

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Step 5: The McNuggets are covered with a light batter, then a second lighter tempura batter.

 

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Step 6: The finished McNuggets are raw inside but it’s the same blended meat that was taken from the blender. The McNuggets are par-fried and then frozen. They’re cooked at the restaurants.

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So McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets aren’t completely gross. However, the horrible sounding ingredients still make them a less desirable choice than making your own chicken strips and nuggets at home.

 

From Huffington Post:

 

Wondering what dimethylpolysiloxane is? It’s a silicone-based product used to emulsify food and prevent caking and foaming. It’s also used in cosmetics, shampoo and silly putty.

 

How about?TBHQ? That thing that appears in brackets after the soybean oil? It’s a petroleum-based preservative

So, not pink slime, but not exactly all-natural organic either.

 

It also should be pointed out that Canada McDonald’s likely use a different process than the McDonald’s in the U.S. A recent University of Mississippi Medical Center study exposed some pretty yucky stuff. Not to mention the high fat and sodium content that a nugget meal has.

 

So cook your chicken snacks at home when you can. It’s good to know, though, that if we need to pull through a drive-thru for a quick meal, we’re not eating the nasty pink goop.

 

You can watch the entire video here:

 

Animated .gifs via?Buzzfeed?via YouTube.

I had a successful career actively working with at-risk youth, people struggling with poverty and unemployment, and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. In 2011, I made the decision to pursue my dreams and become a full-time writer. Connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.